''Nila Kaalam'' () is a 2001 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

-language television film directed by

Gandhi Krishna Gandhi Krishna is an Indian film director who has worked on Tamil films. After beginning his career as an assistant to Shankar, he has made commercially and critically successful films. Career After apprenticing under Shankar in ''Indian'' ( ...

. The film stars Roja and several child artists. The film was also released at film festivals and child artiste Master Udayaraj went on to win

National Film Award for Best Child Artist The National Film Award for Best Child Artist is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several awards p ...

. The film is based on Sujatha's novel ''Andru Un Arukil''.

Plot

The protagonists are three children — Nilaa (Baby Ranjini Pradeep), Amirdhalingam "Amar" (Master Dinesh) and Balasubramaniam "Pulli" (Master Udayaraj). The two boys work in a garage for the owner (

Bala Singh Bala Singh (7 May 195227 November 2019) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil language films. After making his debut in Nassar's '' Avatharam'' (1995), he appeared as the antagonist in over a hundred films. Early life and career Bala Sin ...

) which is next to Nilaa's house. Nilaa, daughter of a popular actress, Veni ( Roja), who is estranged from her husband, has all the material comforts but yearns for company. Nilaa watches her mother shoot for a film with actor Ashok (

Prabhu Deva Prabhu Deva (born 3 April 1973) is an Indian dance choreographer, film director, producer and actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada language films. In a career spanning 32 years, he has performed and designed a ...

). Soon, she strikes a friendship with the boys. The children `plan' a picnic and Nilaa provides the car, food and the works. Their excitement knows no bounds. But that day proves to be the last day of their carefree laughter, childish pranks... their innocence-filled childhood.

Cast

''Source'' * Roja as Veni *Master Dinesh as Amar (Amirdhalingam) * Master Udayaraj as Pulli (Balasubramaniam) *Baby Ranjini Pradeep as Nilaa *Nellai Sundarrajan as Pattabi *

Rasheed Ummer Rasheed Ummer is an Indian actor, who primarily works in Malayalam and Tamil films. He made his début as a hero in ''Kannaram Pothi Pothi'' and later was a part of the much acclaimed ''Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha ''Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha'' () ...

as Raja *

as the garage owner *Durai Ramesh *

Vikram Dharma Vikram Dharma (born as R. N. Dharmaseelan in 1956 – 28 June 2006) was an Indian action choreographer in the Tamil film industry (also known as Kollywood) in Indian cinema. He won the Filmfare Award for Best Action for '' Yuva''. He was the ...

Manivannan S. Manivannan Rajagopal (31 July 1953 – 15 June 2013), better known by his mononym Manivannan, was an Indian film director, actor and activist who worked mainly in Tamil cinema and also worked in a few Telugu & Malayalam films. In a car ...

Kalairani Kalairani Indian actress who has worked in many Tamil films and as a performer with the Koothu-P-Pattarai theatre group. Filmography Serials * ''Panchavan Kaadu'' (2014) (Tamil) * ''Unarchigal'' (2014) (Tamil) * '' Nandini'' (2018) (Tami ...

* S. Rangarajan and Sujatha (guest appearance) *Walter Devaram (guest appearance) *

as Ashok (guest appearance) * Manobala (guest appearance)

Production

An earlier title for the project was ''Pookutti''. The film was made in 18 days on a shoestring budget of ₹45 lakh (worth ₹3.5 crore in 2021 prices).

Release

The film had a brief theatrical run after the film was broadcast on television. A reviewer from

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

cited that "Udayaraj as Pulli hogs the limelight. As the eight-year-old orphan who only dreams of being with his non- existent mother and is completely ignorant about the ways of the mean world, Udayaraj would give the best actor a run for his money".

References

{{Sujatha 2000s Tamil-language films 2001 films Indian children's drama films Indian television films